Preparing for Opening - 7

Why was the exchange diary the only thing sitting out on the desk?

She usually just went through the motions whenever he told her to keep her things tidy, so why did the desk look so immaculate today of all days?

Did she clean up just so she could read the exchange diary?

Im Hayeon bit her lip, softly.

She must have written in it after finishing the day's work, right before bed. How much must she have been looking forward to it, to sweep away her usual mess and open it at a desk left so perfectly clean? Without quite realizing it, Im Hayeon clenched her fist, indignation rising in her chest.

What could Jegal Hyang have written?

What if there was slander about her in there?

If she really is a sly fox, she just might have.

What if Kang Yunho heard Jegal Hyang's gossip and started to see her differently? What if, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠somewhere beyond her knowledge, his opinion of her began to chip away, little by little?

A surge of helplessness tightened her chest.

And if it wasn't slander, the diary might hold Jegal Hyang's feelings for Kang Yunho instead.

What if he read it and realized?

He would freeze, mouth hanging open in surprise—then, before long, reach for his brush.

What would he have written?

From today onward, would the two of them drift closer and closer? Im Hayeon pictured it—Kang Yunho and Jegal Hyang, somewhere she knew nothing about, tenderly trading sweet whispers.

Sometimes with a brush. Sometimes in whispers. Sometimes with nothing but a look.

It hurt. So much that she couldn't even feel the pain in her bitten lip. Her heart ached.

Inside that exchange diary might be the things Kang Yunho couldn't bring himself to say out loud.

She might get hurt. Maybe it would be better not to look at all.

And yet.

Better that than regretting, for the rest of my life, that I never looked.

After agonizing over it to the very end, Im Hayeon finally opened the exchange diary.

What words would she find inside?

A book report?

A book report, in an exchange diary? No—impossible. She was probably starting off light because the whole thing felt awkward. The sweet whispers would come soon enough.

Im Hayeon kept turning the pages.

It is a book report.

There was no slander from the sly fox, no sweet nothings too embarrassing for other eyes. All that was written there was the everyday life of a woman who loved words and pictures.

Wholesome to a fault. So wholesome that if the Tea Book Club members saw it, they'd demand to know what any of this had to do with books.

This couldn't be right. Try as she might to think otherwise, the diary was only a few pages long—and most of it was book reviews.

Granted, in handwriting that trembled, it did say that she hoped Young Master Kang would read them too. That she wished they could read them together.

Even that was too faint to call sweet talk.

Not that the diary was entirely without outpourings of the heart.

Concern for her? Or a warning shot?

It read like the worry of a timid woman—but knowing Jegal Hyang's heart, it also looked like a subtle check.

Im Hayeon set the question aside for the moment and began reading Kang Yunho's replies.

Huh?

Praise for her, right out of the gate.

More praise.

The diary was filled to the brim with praise for Im Hayeon—enough to make her ears burn.

You really are...

Im Hayeon couldn't lift her head. She was so overcome with embarrassment it was as if Kang Yunho had just confessed his love for her in front of a crowd.

A diary—the most earnest vessel there is for one's innermost heart.

And even in an exchange diary, where a man ought to restrain himself from praising other women, he had set down feelings for her that he couldn't have hidden if he tried.

Where in the world would you find honeyed words sweeter than these?

Face scarlet, Im Hayeon returned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the exchange diary to exactly where it had been, then quietly drew near to the side of his sleeping face.

I'm sorry.

She couldn't wake him—but she wanted to stay beside him. For a long ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while, Im Hayeon lingered before that face, the face that made her want to come back no matter how many times she'd already seen it that day.

"It's morning. Up you get."

"Mmm..."

Morning. At the knock on the door, I rubbed my eyes, got up, and carefully opened it.

"The cook made beef seaweed soup and sausage stir-fried with vegetables. Come down and eat with the staff."

"Miss Hayeon?"

There she stood at my door—Im Hayeon, bright-eyed and full of energy, nothing like yesterday.

"Why are you looking at me like I'm a different person?"

Smiling, even cracking jokes. Was this really the same woman who'd been in a foul mood all day yesterday?

"N-no, not at all. I'll get ready and come down."

"I'll keep your seat warm, so hurry."

I nodded and closed the door again.

Smack. I clapped both palms against my cheeks hard enough to sting, snapping my head into focus.

Yep—this is the classic move, all right.

Mind cleared, I stood before the desk.

The window was shut, every object resting exactly where it had been before I went to sleep.

No matter how carefully I looked, I couldn't find a single trace of intrusion.

Except for the exchange diary, sitting precisely where it had been yesterday.

"I didn't watch just one or two spy films in my day, you know."

I flipped the diary open and let out a quiet chuckle.

Its position, its angle—nothing had changed since yesterday.

Except for one thing: the single strand of hair I'd tucked into the edge of the diary was gone.

"As expected, when it comes to baring your heart, nothing beats an exchange diary."

It was simply that today's exchange diary hadn't been meant for Jegal Hyang.

Tucked inside the diary written for Jegal Hyang were my true feelings about Im Hayeon. Nothing in this world could have comforted that woman more.

Lately, Im Hayeon had been losing her scruples about stealing whenever she had a reason—so I'd laid a little trap, and it landed square.

I did feel a touch guilty toward Miss Jegal Hyang, but ours was a contract relationship anyway, and since I'd written that I was worried about Im Hayeon, it doubled as a perfectly good pretext.

Truthfully, her entries were closer to book reviews, so all she earned was a "Well done!" stamp. There was nothing else I could have stamped, after all.

"From now on, I suppose I'll have to write it as a three-person exchange diary."

An exchange diary that satisfied Jegal Hyang and Im Hayeon alike—that was the kind I needed to write.

"The house isn't large, but it lacks nothing you need for living. Everything is prepared, so if you bring only your smaller belongings, you can move in right away."

When we arrived at the house we would share, a man from the Mangeum Money Exchange began the tour.

"Guards will be posted in rotating shifts, day and night. We intend to station more than strictly necessary, so should you request an escort when you go out, they will attend you at once."

"The Mangeum Lord also sends word that the inner courtyard is a place where you need not concern yourselves with the eyes of the world."

"Haha."

Why not just tell me outright to go make history with his darling granddaughter?

"Do have a look around the inner courtyard yourselves."

With those parting words, the man from the Mangeum Money Exchange concluded his tour and quietly withdrew to the outer grounds.

"A main house and two annexes. A classic layout."

"The main house has two rooms."

To be sure, the residence was less a splendid grand mansion than a house sized so that a man and a woman could stumble into romance in any corner of it.

"Since there are three of us living together, how would you feel about dividing between the main house and the annexes?"

Elder Mangeum Lord. A main house with only two rooms? Your scheme could not be more transparent.

"Sounds fine to me."

"U-umm..."

Head lowered, Jegal Hyang shuffled over and clutched my sleeve tight.

"Yes, Miss Jegal?"

What could she want? If she asked for the spacious main house, I'd hand it over without a word of complaint.

"G-Grandfather wouldn't... wouldn't like it..."

Jegal Hyang spoke in a voice thick with worry.

"I understand your concern, Miss Jegal. But if rumors spread the wrong way about us sharing the main house, it could do you grave harm."

Truth be told, Miss Jegal had no desire to live under the same roof either.

She was a woman of such gentle heart that she'd only spoken up out of concern for me—and fear of her tiger of a grandfather.

I appreciated the consideration, but ours was a contract relationship.

Living separately in the main house and the annexes would at least leave us an excuse for later.

The moment two people shared the inner residence, they were practically married in all but name.

"I... I'm fine with it..."

Jegal Hyang said, in a voice that crawled along the floor, her ears flaming red.

Well, this is awkward.

It was the right call for now—but if word leaked out later, the Zhuge Clan might well break out their cherished family pastime of cutting a man down while sobbing.

And Im Hayeon was a problem too.

By custom, the main house belonged to the wife, while the annexes went to a second wife or a concubine.

It's like when friends ride in a car together and one takes the wheel while the other lounges in the back—the driver's face crumples on the spot. It becomes a question of courtesy.

I had only just barely coaxed Im Hayeon's mood back to rights; there was no need to stir suspicion and set her off again.

I looked at Im Hayeon anxiously.

"...You two take the main house."

Huh? She's not angry?

"Miss Jegal, let us speak a moment. Miss Hayeon—will you be all right with that?"

I drew Im Hayeon off to one side and asked her.

Or should I have the two of them take the main house instead?

"The Mangeum Lord could pull another of his tricks. Go on, take it."

"If you're truly fine with it, Miss Hayeon, then so am I, but..."

"What matters isn't where we sleep—it's whether we're all working toward the same goal, isn't it?"

Im Hayeon said, shrugging as if it were nothing at all.

Had yesterday's diary entry worked even better than I'd hoped?

Jegal Hyang approved, and Im Hayeon approved. After a moment's deliberation, I nodded.

"Then let's move our things in and start living together tomorrow."

The problem right in front of me, versus possibilities that might come later.

As ever, putting out the fire at hand took priority.

"I thought my heart was going to burst..."

The Mangeum Lord's estate. Jegal Hyang's room. The silver-haired, blue-eyed beauty melted into a boneless puddle on the floor, heaving a long sigh of relief.

On any ordinary day, she would have nodded along to Kang Yunho's suggestion that they live separately. But today, that was absolutely impossible.

"I have to get closer to Young Master Kang, no matter what..."

The annulment must never, ever happen. Pairing another cousin with Young Master Kang? Absolutely, positively not.

Jegal Hyang steeled herself and began imagining what lay ahead.

How can I get closer to Young Master Kang? First, I'll picture the moments we'll share from now on...

When I wake in the morning, Young Master Kang will be there, and in that gentle voice of his...

"Hehehe..."

Alas, her plans for the future had dissolved, in the space of a breath, into blissful daydream.

I can't hold back my laughter. I'm so glad I found my courage.

The thought that from tomorrow she would live under the same roof—in the same room, no less—as Kang Yunho made her face glow happier than it had ever been.

And then there was the exchange diary, too. She'd written it in such a rush that it had turned out to be mostly book reviews, but she'd managed to pass it along, and his reply had come back in a single day.

What could it say?

Heart fluttering, Jegal Hyang opened the diary.

"I enjoyed it as well. That part was especially fun. Thank you for the recommendation." His responses to her book reviews had been written with scrupulous care.

There were notes about his everyday life as well—little windows into what Kang Yunho got up to on ordinary days—and that, too, left her satisfied.

All but one thing.

"Why are there so many stories about Hayeon-unni...?"

A faintly sulky grumble slipped from her lips.

Any ordinary woman would have blown up first and asked questions later. But she herself had written her worries about Im Hayeon, so the most a timid soul like her could manage was one small complaint.

Besides, this was the diary Kang Yunho had written so earnestly, just for her. Jegal Hyang's delicate brow creased a little more with every line she read about Im Hayeon—but she could not stop reading.

"Huh?!"

Not until she stumbled upon one very strange passage.

"Th-that can't be right...?"

A fact Kang Yunho had glossed over without a second thought.

Written in that diary was something the youngest daughter of the Zhuge Clan could never, ever let slide.

Something Im Hayeon had resolved upon only after long, agonizing deliberation—yet could never bring herself to tell Kang Yunho.

And the fact that left Jegal Hyang aghast was this:

"Young Master Kang is learning Hayeon-unni's family martial arts? Family arts are never, ever taught to outsiders!"